ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota church that bills itself as the first Norwegian Lutheran Church in the Dakota Territory is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The St. Paul Lutheran Church in Elk Point was founded in 1863. The parish was originally known as the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The church in southeastern South Dakota church has been served by 20 pastors.

Church spokesman Glenn Olson told KCAU-TV that the celebration is exciting at a time when the changing face of agriculture and population shifts make it difficult for rural churches to survive.

___

4,500 crosses go missing from Durango ski hill

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Thousands of small crosses that were planted on a Colorado ski slope to bring attention to childhood poverty have gone missing.

The Durango Herald reports volunteers with the First Baptist Church of Bayfield planted 4,500 crosses in a cross pattern on the city’s ski slope and had a permit from the city to keep them there for a month.

Police say the crosses were removed sometime between the night of July 9 and the morning of July 10. Sgt. Rita Warfield says the crosses might have been stolen to protest religious symbols in a public park.

City Manager Ron LeBlanc says he approved the church’s project, “thinking it more to be freedom of expression than a religious statement.”

___

Ex-priest seeks $450,000 from Wis. archdiocese

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The list of creditors for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee includes those you might expect to find in a bankruptcy case — a bank, pension funds and a retirees’ health care plan.

It also includes a priest removed from the priesthood amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2011, saying it wouldn’t have enough money if lawsuits filed by sexual abuse victims went against it. Hundreds of victims also filed claims.

The claim filed by Marvin Knighton stands out because he was acquitted by a jury. But the church still removed him from the priesthood, saying two of three allegations against him had merit.